


Changes

by lylia9000



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Color Blindness, Emotional Healing, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Other, Souls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 17:47:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29229474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lylia9000/pseuds/lylia9000
Summary: Sans's color blindness could get in the way a lot, and it was honestly really inconsistent about what it let him see, but there was always value in the colors that he could see. For that, he couldn't ask for more. It was a shame that he couldn't see that sunset that everyone else sobbed for though.
Relationships: Frisk & Sans (Undertale), Papyrus & Sans (Undertale)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 40





	Changes

**Author's Note:**

> This was going to be the beginning of a Sans X Reader or a complete Fanfic, but god knows I can't be committed to something like a full, original work. Still, if anyone would like to see a Soulmate AU with this as a setting then let me know so I can get to work on a solid plot and stuff. 
> 
> Enjoy!

For as long as Sans could remember, he'd seen most of the world in black, white, and grey overtones. At first he thought that was simply how things were. He thought that it was fine that he'd only ever seen color whenever his father used his magic, but when Wingdings Gaster looked at his son in mortification when Sans asked what the purple glow was, he realized that maybe he wasn't supposed to see everything in black and white. 

Sans had gone through so many tests and surveys of his eye sight throughout his childhood that he could hardly remember what number he was on when his father tired curing his color blindness and took out his right eye's magical glow instead. He'd never seen his father cry on any other occasion for the man's entire life. Still he held no hatred for him, nor the incident, considering that he was only trying to help. Gaster never asked about his color blindness again. 

Then came Papyrus. When he first saw the little bundle of blanket's in his fathers hallowed hands, he was seven and he immediately asked what color the swaddle was. _Red_. A bright, nearly burning red that Sans learned to absolutely love. It was his new favorite color, considering he'd only ever seen a few select others. 

Blue, the color his father could turn another's soul, and a special ability for skeletons like himself. 

Green, the color the little fish girl from Waterfall could turn a person's soul. 

Orange, the color of magic that would force you to move, otherwise your HP would drop.

Yellow, the color of a lot of different monster's eyes, including his best friend Grillby's.

And finally, Purple, the color of his father's magic. 

Both Gaster and Sans found it strange that Sans could see the colors of magic and the colors of another monster's eyes, but his father was grateful. Being able to distinguish between blue, orange, and white would save Gaster a lot of worrying for his son's future. Although he hoped that neither of his sons would need to fight very much, they were boss monsters. Stronger than the rest, and bound to be called on when strength was necessary for things like the royal guard. 

When Papyrus finally opened his eyes for the first time, Sans was sad to find that he had no eye lights like himself or his father's. It meant that he'd never get to see his brother's eye color, because he didn't have any. His father assured him that his eye sockets would glow similarly to theirs when he used magic, much alike himself and Sans, and he couldn't wait for that day to come. 

**. . .**

Sans was nine when he learned that, despite his massive amounts of magic, his stats were dreadfully low to begin with. 

" **HP: 5**

**AT: 1**

**DF: 1** " 

One non-accidental hit, and he could be good as dust. It scared him beyond recognition. He hid in his home for months, and nothing his father said could break him out of his dreading. It wasn't until Papyrus had entered his room during another panic attack in the dead of night, placing a careful hand on his brother's skull and babbling gently to him, that he had decided to stop hiding in fear. His little brother, being only two years old, responded to Sans's glowing blue eye with his own bright orange flaring back in a soul-warming flash. He learned to love the color orange, just as much as he loved the bright red scarf always wrapped around his little brother's neck. 

Sans became accustom to being overly careful whenever he moved, and as he and Papyrus grew up, his little brother reminded him of it, in case he ever forgot. Sadly, Sans never forgot. Still, he found himself giving as much as he could to his little brother. Not being able to see the same spectrum of color was no problem to him as long as he could continue to relish in the red of his brother's scarf, and the orange of his magic. 

Although the other monsters, his father included, thought that it would be uncomfortable for him to live in such a colorless world, they were wrong. He saw color in the important things, and as he grew older, he could see more. The colors of any monster's eyes were always prominent, and when he reached his teenage years, he could see the color of the one thing that they cherished most. 

Sans often looked in the mirror, hoping to see the color of his left eye when he used his magic, or even the color of his magic at all, but he saw nothing. It was a warm, brighter white that he knew he had control over, despite being told that it was blue. He wished he could see the color of his favorite sweater as well. After all, it was difficult to tell stains apart form the regular cloth. Despite that Papyrus always told him to wash it in a timely manner so the stains from his ketchup would never stay, he always made the excuse that he couldn't see it in the first place. 

Not to mention that he could see a monster's soul and stats outside of an encounter. It was strange, waking up one day after his first heat cycle, and suddenly being able to see every person's soul bared to him. His skull was flushed a bright blue throughout the whole day, until he couldn't take the embarrassment alone anymore, and he finally consulted his father. 

After careful studies, Gaster had concluded that it was correlated to Sans's specific color blindness, which in turn was a result of his excess magic. Wanting to learn more about his condition, Sans entered the scientific field at seventeen. 

Four years after working with his father, Alphys, and the other royal scientists, Sans finally decided to stop probing himself for answers. After all, seeing someone's soul slowly dust away over a period of weeks was never something he wanted to see again. 

The King had ordered them to try and find a way to stop people from falling down, as it was dreadfully common for monsters to loose HoPe in their circumstances. Seeing one of his own high school teachers being a patient he worked with, watching as her soul slowly disintegrated, was far too much for him. The cracks in her soul slowly ate away at her until there was nothing left, and all throughout the several week process until her HP was 0/0 and her soul almost completely gone, Sans couldn't see her face. Although she was black and white as it was, her eyes usually a calming soft yellow, he couldn't see her face at all. 

Covering her entire head were white, pixelated clouds that obscured any part of her face that Sans tried to look at. He couldn't meet her eyes because, even if he had a feeling he knew where they were, he couldn't see them. Try as he might have, looking at her from different angles, from behind even, he couldn't seen any semblance of her face or head. Even her reflection was clouded. 

He couldn't take it. 

Quitting as soon as they received another patient, Sans resumed his hermit lifestyle from so many years ago. Keeping to himself, keeping everyone else out, until finally, Gaster died, and for some reason, everyone had forgotten he'd even existed. Sans was mortified when he'd asked his own brother about it, and Papyrus simply tilted his head. 

_"WE DON'T HAVE A FATHER, SANS. IT'S ONLY EVER BEEN YOU AND ME."_

It was then when Sans had finally stepped out of his hermitage, asking the entire town about Wingdings Gaster, and receiving the same replies. When he returned home, Sans had almost felt insane, shaking and swaying from side to side, he clamored down to the basement, the machine sitting in the corner enough proof for his fickle mind that he was not loosing it - not yet at least. 

Taking out a pen and familiar drawing, he scribbled desperately on it, hoping and praying that he wouldn't forget before he finished. His panic was obvious as he wrote on the childish drawing, his handwriting almost ineligible. Covering the machine, in hopes to reign in his own mind and assure him that he was definitely not going insane, he entered his home, and acted the same as everyone else. 

It wasn't as if he could change anything, after all. 

**. . .**

Asgore approached him one day, knocking on his door in Snowdin while Papyrus was away, trying once again to convince Undyne to let him into the royal guard. 

Completely startled by the appearance of someone so important at his front door while Sans was in his casual attire and slippers, he began sweating bullets and offered for the king to come inside. His nervousness showed through when he automatically began deflecting any sort of embarrassment he felt with jokes. He didn't think he could make more of a fool out of himself after he opened the door with pink fuzzy slippers on, but he proved himself sorely wrong.

"Sans." The king began, holding the cup of hot chocolate that Sans had scrambled to make when he realized that Papyrus wasn't here to cater to guests instead of him. 

"y-yeah?" Crap, he stuttered. Still, that permanent grin remained on his face. 

Asgore's expression had been warm and inviting the entire time Sans had seen him, and when he suddenly shifted to seriousness, the skeleton could feel his bones pale. "I'd like to offer you a job." 

"a... job?" Sans was at a loss for words. "what kind of job..?" He couldn't help but feel a bit shady, considering that Asgore had came all the way from New Home to offer Sans a job. 

"I'd like you to work for me as The Judge of the Underground." 

Sans's mind stalled, "what?"

"You'd be stationed in the hall before the throne room, and your job would include judging someone on the sins they've committed. Criminals, as little as they are in number, still deserve valid judgement for their actions." Asgore held Sans's gaze with an intensity that unnerved him. 

"i... i wouldn't be any good for it-"

"Yes, you would be." Asgore spoke solidly, causing the skeleton to shift uncomfortably. "You're abilities are unlike any other, and would no doubt be advantageous." 

"how did you know?" Sans's bone brows knitted together as he stared at the king. "no one knows about it other than my bro and..." _Gaster_. But no one remembered Gaster, so there was no way. Unless..?

"We found records in our science department that were redacted, but held quite a bit of information about you, Sans. Not to mention you had worked as a royal scientist for some time." Asgore explained. 

Of course! Even if no one remembered Gaster, his files were sure to still be there, but... redacted? As far as Sans knew, his father had never covered up Sans's information. Even if the former royal scientist never did allow anyone else to see it, nor did he tell anyone, he never kept it a secret that he was trying to help Sans. So why would it be blacked out? 

"I will pay you quite well, Sans. For every person you pass judgement for, I will be grateful that they have been given true, unfiltered justice. That is, if you can pass such a judgement." Asgore could help the slight sigh that escaped him. "Regardless, you are able to reject my offer as well. I do no wish to pressure you." 

If Sans was honest, the money that he and Gaster had made while working as royal scientists was drying up, and considering that Sans had _just_ stopped being as much of a hermit as he was before... Well, they needed to money, and Asgore was right; there was hardly anyone who would commit crimes. 

"tell me more."

They were monsters after all; made of love, hope, compassion and magic. Who would he have to judge?

**. . .**

A human. 

He'd honestly never thought he'd see one in his lifetime, but Sans knew a human when he saw one. What he hadn't expected though, was not being able to see their eyes. Although their shirt was a very obvious striped blue and purple, like that of a child's, Sans had expected to see their eyes somewhere along the way. 

He remembered being told that human eyes came in an array of unusual colors, and quite honestly, Sans was terribly curious about it. After all, the eyes were the window to the soul. He couldn't see their soul either, now that he thought about it. Was it because they were human? Perhaps because he couldn't see their eyes? Only time could tell. 

It wasn't until they reached New Home that Sans had the opportunity to see their soul bared forward.

_"you never gained LOVE, but you gained love. does that make sense? maybe not."_

Quiet honestly, Sans felt a bit awkward. He almost felt as if he was speaking to himself the whole time, until he saw how their face twisted up into a quivering frown. Hesitantly, he continued, not sure what the look on their face meant.

_"so as long as you hold on... so as long as you do what's in your heart... i believe you can do the right thing."_

And with that, the child opened their eyes to look at him with hazelnut brown irises which had been glossed over with tears. The pan in their hands dropped to the floor, and they tumbled forward, lunging at Sans to envelop him in a desperate hug. And for the first time, Sans caught a glimpse of their soul. A bright, red heart hovering in their chest. Although what caused him to hug them back a little tighter, was how their soul had a growing crack. If he had ever pulled the child into an encounter, he never would have seen it. After all, it was deeply rooted at the back where no one could see. 

_"we are all counting on you, kid. good luck."_

He let them go, and with a gentle smile, ruffled their hair, and disappeared from the scene. 

**. . .**

Sometimes he wondered what it was like to be on the opposite side of that white pixelated cloud. He was disappointed when he realized it wasn't much different than what he'd been feeling recently. Granted, he knew he was falling down; or at the very least, he had been close to it, recently. 

After all, why even try? 

What did he have to live for, other than his own little brother? 

Well, he supposed he had another kid to take care of. 

" _nah, i'm rooting for you, kid._ " 

The cloud dissipated from his face, and for the first time in what felt like years, he felt a clear sense of mind. Smiling genuinely at Frisk, he watched as they burst into their own happy tears and set off to save the others. 

They were truly a blessing. 

**. . .**

Even if Sans couldn't see the beautiful coloring of the sunset, like how his brother could. Even if his brother was moved to tears, while he could do nothing but stare at the sinking ball of white against a grey scale... He felt at ease, because despite the unnerving feeling of an ending at the back of his mind, he knew it was only the beginning. 

After all, how could anyone ever ruin a new beginning like this? 

**. . .**

[ R e s e t ? ] 

[ ❤ Y e s ] [ N o ]

**. . .**

[ Y e s ] [ ❤ N o ]


End file.
